GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Ok so ive been creeping around the forum looking at different suspension setups and seeing what people use them for and what not but heres my issue. I was thinking of either using coilovers or using Tokico Illumina struts with a nice set of springs. I daily drive my Z and being from new england my roads arent the best so i dont want a totally stiff ride but i would like to be able to take my car to the track every once in a while. So what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I loved the way my 260z felt with tokico illuminas and tokico springs. I had small sticky tires (205/50/15) so it also sat pretty low, which probably made a big difference as well. It was very aggressive and very streetable in the roads of downtown Los Angeles. If its will see the track occasionally, I would go springs/struts. If I was more dedicated to the track, as in an extra set of track wheels with slicks or something, I would get the coilovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicArtist Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I'd go with springs/shocks. Unless you're tracking it dedicatedly, or going extremely low, coilovers will just be uncomfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 (edited) Where did you buy your tokicos? can you PM me a list of the parts you needed for a complete kit? Ive been looking around and i found a few websites that sell complete strut and spring kits but they seem kinda sketchy. Also what size wheel and tire will i be able to clear? Can i run 225s on say a 15x8 or a 16x8? Edited March 29, 2012 by GarageRatt13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Also if you have them could you post some pics of your cars on the Tokico setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I am on coilovers and I love them. The 200/225 spring combo is not stiff and use "3" on illumina. The handling is a lot better than stock and I do drive my car through Los Angeles hell holes. I think it was worth the investment and adjustability of lowering the car where I want it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Brian how low is your car though? Even though i love the look of a Z on Coilovers i dont know if it'll be practical in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 You need to decide how low you want to go. If you lower w springs only,you will lose a corresponding amount of travel. If you lose a lot of travel the car will beat itself to death. A stock z car auto crosses reasonably well with no mods so you could also do nothing and just drive it. I love my coilovers because they make it so easy to make changes. I can raise or lower it in a half hour and be right back on the road. I am currently 5" high at the rocker panels with lots of suspension travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 But if its a setup with springs and the shocks shouldnt the travel eqaul out to be about the same? Also when you lower the car with the coilovers wouldnt that loose travel too? My original intentions were to use coilovers but I dont know if i need them, ive been in a few cars with coilovers and it looks awesome and handles great on the track but driving them on the street is crap because of how stiff it is. My car would be on the street 80% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 What do you guys think about this? I found it on google, Ive never heard of the site that is selling it but it looks like a good setup for what i want. http://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.com/Suspension/Tokico-Illumina-Suspension-Kit/_Item/_355800018?utm_source=google&utm_medium=Suspension&utm_campaign=GoogleProducts&utm_term=Tokico-Illumina-Suspension-Kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 The inclination that coilovers will be stiffer is not factual. With GC coilovers at least, you can choose your spring rate. Also you can still choose your strut, I am running illumina's with GC coilovers. If you keep the stock upper insulators, you can have about the same comfort. The GC kit won't come with progressive springs which I will go ahead and assume the tokico springs are, but there are 2.5" progressive springs out there that you can buy and install pretty easily. I'd almost argue that coilovers with sectioned struts will feel better than lowering springs, depending on strut/spring chosen. The nice part about coilovers is you can raise and lower your car as much as you want. If you go too far, you're alignment might be off by a little bit afterwards, but other than that, it's as simple as turning the spring adjuster. This means you can drive around on the streets with it as high as you need/want it, and then lower it down for the track/auto-X/backroad fun. It will end up costing about twice as much as the kit you linked, but you'd probably be happier with it. The nice part is that you have so much adjustability. Plus there's tons of aftermarket 2.5" springs out there for not too much money so you can buy a softer, stiffer, or progressive spring to suit your needs. However the coilover install is fairly involved, and will take quite a while longer than the lowering springs would to install. It's all up to you, but coil-overs are cool for sure. It adds the nice benefit of being able to raise and lower your car without doing much more than jacking up the car and taking off the wheels. I say go for the coils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Hmmmm...... you make some good points there. Does GC sell a kit? or do you have to section the struts and whatnot on your own. Ive seen a bunch of write ups on how to do it but im a bit hesitant, i dont want to mess anything up. I would like to run ZG flares at some point too so i guess coilovers would be best suited to take full advantage of them. Also i dont mind spending the extra cash to get what i want and to only have to do it once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 (edited) Hmmmm...... you make some good points there. Does GC sell a kit? or do you have to section the struts and whatnot on your own. Ive seen a bunch of write ups on how to do it but im a bit hesitant, i dont want to mess anything up. I would like to run ZG flares at some point too so i guess coilovers would be best suited to take full advantage of them. Also i dont mind spending the extra cash to get what i want and to only have to do it once. They sell a DIY kit basically where you have to cut off your stock spring perch and weld on their new perch. I was gonna link you to techno toy tuning where I bought my GC kit from but it looks like they no longer carry that. Instead they make bolt-in coilovers which basically just replace the stock strut completely, they include shocks, springs, the coilover kit, and the whole strut casing. It's a bit pricey though, being about $800 per pair (front or rear) I'm sure it's nice, but that's a bit excessive for what it really is. There's honestly not much you can really mess up. You could also buy a similar coilover kit from beta motorsports and do the same thing, or even have John from beta motorsports make coilovers for you. He's kinda the suspension guru of Z cars. Filling out those flares will be easiest with coilovers. And the best part is that if you change wheel sizes sometime down the road, you can just change the height of the car and fit those wheels in nicely. You'd definitely be best off doing coilovers from the sounds of it. Edit: I happened to read a little blog post from techno toy saying they still carry all the same parts but some things haven't been added to the site yet so they may still have the gc kit. Edited March 29, 2012 by luseboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Ok so it sounds like I'm going with coilovers haha. What am i looking at price wise for a full set with illumina shocks? Also am i going to need camber plates? And will John build them? or will he just get me the parts i need for what im going to use it for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Ok so it sounds like I'm going with coilovers haha. What am i looking at price wise for a full set with illumina shocks? Also am i going to need camber plates? And will John build them? or will he just get me the parts i need for what im going to use it for. Cool, good choice! Well the GC kit is 400 (all 4 corners), each illumina strut is... lets say 125, factor in new isolators if needed ($50 each). So without new isolators, you're looking at $900. Johns kit is: $88 per pair of coilover threaded collars, 147 per pair of springs, then again the illuminas; it's $970. However you'd still need to source an upper hat. You won't need them but they wouldn't be a bad idea. I personally chose to use new oem isolators and take care of my camber needs with my techno toy LCA's. If you want him to build it he can, but it will be pricey to get it done. He sells the parts on his website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I lowered the car about 2inches in the front and half an inch in the rear. I am going to cut fenders and zg and go lower. I am at around $1,000 for illumina and coilovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Ok awesome i'll PM John when i get all the money sorted which should be next month. Im pretty pumped to lower the car and get my suspension sorted out. Now comes the tires and wheels, I was thinking of running 16x8 with 225/50/16s. what do you think? should i run wider wheels and tires? say 16x9s and 245s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Cool! I'm sure you'll get a good set up sorted out. Should be awesome! If you are gonna run ZG flares, might as well take advantage of it and run 9" wide wheels. But that is up to you. 8" isn't bad either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarageRatt13 Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Alright i'll probably run 9" wide wheels, so can i run 245s all around? Or should I run smaller in the front? Also what offset should i be running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stravi757 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 just another perspective. I have a 280z with tokico springs and struts(HP's), and my brother has GC coilovers with fenderflares and rota's(17x9). My car is much more comfortable to Drive on the street. His car isnt horrible but it isnt exactly how you would prefer a car to be when its your daily driver... just know once you go fender flares your probably not going to ever go back. I myself always wanted to get ZG flares but when it came down to it, I just didnt want to cut my fenders. Now that my brother has them, I can tell you I would never go with fender flares unless it was going to become a track car. The look honestly stopped appealing to me when i started to wake up to see it in my driveway everyday. Seems like it looked way cooler when I would look at pics of Z's with ZG flares online. I wouldnt go with coilovers if the car is just going to be a street car. unless you want more drop than the tokicos can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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